Forcing You – D27

7.

Dino sat in the airplane next to Romario. He looked outside at the sea of clouds and sighed. He would be reaching Italy in approximately seven hours. He had been exhausted staying with Tsuna for that extra day. He was lucky he was able to book a ticket last minute. He twisted around in his seat, bored. Romario was able to keep himself entertained with a selection of in-flight magazines. Dino brought up his reason to leave Japan. His assistant merely nodded, but did not properly acknowledge his decision.

Unable to speak to him about anything else, Dino sank into his chair and reclined it. Maybe a nap would help. But all he had ever done for the past few days was sleep anyway. It gave him some kind of salvation from reality. He could shut down and forget everything else. But he couldn't sleep. It was broad daylight in Japan and he hadn't adjusted to Italy's time zone. He wasn't even there yet. He sighed, restless, and earned a glance from Romario.

"What's the business anyway?" Dino asked, as eye contact had been established. He had wanted to escape from Japan due to a personal reason, but was soon after told to return to Italy anyway.

"Vongola inheritance."

"So soon? Tsuna's too young."

"Orders of the Ninth." Romario returned to his magazine, having answered all of his boss' questions. He knew Dino wasn't going to ask more. His mind was too preoccupied.

The boss in question twiddled with his thumbs. He was worried. Tsuna was going to decline the position as the Tenth. His little brother was too warm-hearted to have anything to do with the mafia. Anything to do with him, a mafia boss. He regretted thinking about that. He secretly hoped he would take over the position. He desperately wanted more to do with Tsuna. Once he was out of the mafia world, Dino might never see him again.

But he knew Reborn wouldn't let that happen. Dino was torn. Would he let his cute brother stay safe and pull him out of the mafia? Or would he protect him as he becomes boss of the Vongola? Either way, one of them was in danger. He didn't want them to get separated even though he was leaving Tsuna for a while. He didn't want Tsuna to die in front of his eyes in a fight. What could he do?

The boy was madly in love with him. Now he knew. He couldn't escape the feelings pulling him towards the boy. He was trapped. He could agonize about how he was hurting the boy or he could lie and pretend to love him. Why was this so complicated? It would all have been better if he were a woman.

Tsuna left his house later than usual. Reborn had returned, too. The infant proceeded by following the brunette to school. He then suddenly flung a letter at him, and he fumbled clumsily with it before opening it.

"What's this?"

"Read it, no-good Tsuna."

"Inheritance ceremony? Whose?" The boy paused, earning a smirk from his tutor. "What? I thought I said I didn't want anything to do with the mafia! I decline!"

"Too bad."

"Whoa, she's tall. Is she a new student?" Tsuna was distracted by a girl with heels and a uniform different from his. She was walking towards Namimori. "I heard that there are new students coming from Simon Middle School."

"If you don't talk to people, you'll never make new friends." Reborn casually poked at him. "Don't forget about the letter."

The homeroom teacher briefly introduced the new students in 2-A, Kozato Enma and Shitt P. Tsuna was, however, uninterested and just gave a half-hearted glance, barely catching on to their names or appearances. He just wondered if Dino was ever going to come back. He considered apologizing to him and keeping his feelings under control. He had caused so much trouble for the one he loved.

The day passed by quickly and Tsuna didn't interact at all with the new students. He didn't want new friends. He just wanted Dino to return. He missed him. Reborn joined him as he walked home. The hitman described his view of Shitt P.

"She's probably an alien, as Gokudera says."

"You too?" Tsuna scratched the back of his head. He saw Kozato Enma on the ground, two bullies standing above him. "Hey! It's one of the transfer students!"

Tsuna and the new boy were beaten up by the two guys nearly twice their size. The brunette silently cursed Reborn under his breath for bringing their attention his way. Stupid tutor. He picked up the books that the redheaded boy had dropped and handed them to him. The boy shyly grabbed them and ran off, his face still bleeding from minor scratches.

"Hey wait! You forgot one!"

In the instant the boy had come close to Tsuna, the Vongola ring lit up. The brunette noticed but dismissed it. His tutor raised an eyebrow and decided to look into this Simon family.

Dino had landed safely in Italy. He stretched his arms out before picking up his luggage. He hadn't slept at all during the flight and now, it was morning. But to the jetlagged Dino, it was sunset. He climbed into the backseat of one of his family's cars and had Romario drive him back home. He leaned back into the chair and decided to take a nap until they arrived.

"Dino-san…" a voice called the blonde man, who turned his head around. "Dino-san, why don't you love me?"Dino looked at himself. He was sitting on the bed at Tsuna's house, in his pyjamas. Where was the voice coming from? "Dino-san…" the voice started sobbing now, a sound that made his heart wrench. "I'm sorry, Tsuna, but I…"

"Boss!" Romario shook him awake. "We've arrived."

Dino yawned and nodded. He tried to remember his dream, but he couldn't. As he got out of the vehicle, the sun blazed into his eyes and blinded him. He was forced to squint as he took his bag out. He was then greeted by his subordinates and the Ninth Vongola boss, Timoteo.

"Sir!"

"Dino Cavallone. I am glad you could make it to the meeting."

"Meeting? Now? Romario, what in the world?"

"Do not panic. We are at one of the Vongola's estates. The meeting will soon commence. We had it postponed for you." The Ninth Vongola boss smiled, making his wrinkles appear more visible. His gray hair turned white from the sun. "Come inside and wash your face a bit."

"Y-yes." Dino was surprised by his carefree air. Wasn't this something important? Nevertheless, he took him up on his offer and soon joined the meeting. He only had one thing to ask. "Does Tsuna know about this?"

First very long A/N: Ahh I'm sorry I had to tie it in with the inheritance arc, but this will be slightly different. Imagine what you already know anyway, I'll be skipping the minor parts, such as the letter in the trash, etc. I'll go right to the end of the arc so that I don't exactly copy the story. Do bear in mind that Tsuna does have his powers and that this is not AU, (I just added the meeting for fuel) which means that I'll only write Dino and Tsuna's parts mostly.

Less feelings in this chapter. I'll make it as twisted as possible in the next one. Thanks for reading until this far!